Strangely, it was when I learned that the TVA Group wanted to transform the TVA building located at the corner of Boulevard De Maisonneuve Est and rue Alexandre-DeSève into social housing that I realized the extent of the tragedy.
Words fail me to describe what the big boss of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau, announced Thursday. For a warning shot, it’s quite one. We know his alarmist side and his repeated attacks against his competitors (Radio-Canada, Bell, etc.). Countless times he has alerted public opinion to the crisis affecting the media, regularly he has attacked the government’s inertia.
It’s his right, his way of doing things.
But the announcement made Thursday afternoon is not just a vulgar twist: it confirms the seriousness of the situation: 547 employees, including 300 in internal production, will lose their jobs at the TVA Group. In total, this represents 31% of the current workforce. This is in addition to the 140 positions cut in February. This is enormous for a population like Quebec.
This bloodletting was described as “the blackest day in our history” by the TVA Employees Union. No need to tell you that tears rolled down the cheeks of employees Thursday when the news was announced. This will add worry and stress.
Here’s a wonderful holiday season in perspective for hundreds of parents!
“It’s a real bombshell that has just dropped in the media,” said Sophie Thibault, Thursday at 5 p.m., presenting undoubtedly the most “uncomfortable” news bulletin of her career.
The emotion and unease were palpable on the faces of his colleagues Emmanuelle Latraverse, Mario Dumont and Paul Larocque. The latter specified that in his 32-year career, two other events were comparable to what he experienced: the death of Gaétan Girouard and that of Jean Lapierre.
He also rightly said that no media in Canada was immune from this type of situation.
TVA must be able to count on solid advertising revenues to allow its hundreds of employees to work and create. But now, these revenues are no longer there (despite excellent audience ratings) in the face of the massive intrusion of the giants of the digital world.
Pierre Karl Péladeau said that this restructuring would not be seen on the air. I believe him. But still…
TVA was the last TV channel that retained professionals capable of in-house production. Like other channels (Radio-Canada, Télé-Québec, specialty channels, etc.), it will now entrust the vast majority of its broadcasts to private companies. Let’s hope that a good number of employees who lose their jobs will be able to be hired by these companies.
In the blind spot of this restructuring, there are the hundred or so positions linked to the activities of regional TVA stations. We are told that the production of news bulletins for regional stations will henceforth be carried out by teams in the national capital and that “diversity” will be respected. We’ll have to see what that means.
I met Pierre Karl Péladeau last May at his office. He suggested to me that LCN could go by the wayside. But Quebecor channels have information production obligations to the CRTC. We therefore decided to cut broadcast production.
Now that the newscast staff, the broadcast Hi hello, LCN programming and certain TVA Sports broadcasts will be centralized, will we take advantage of this to make other cuts? This is to be expected.
Last August, when we learned of the closure of the newspapers MetroI wondered how many closures and layoffs would be necessary for us to understand the extent of the drama that is playing out.
Want other numbers? Bell (including CTV): 1,300 positions eliminated; Corus Entertainment (including Global): 250 positions; Information cooperatives: 125 positions; Postmedia: 70.
Yesterday it was newspapers, today it’s TV. And tomorrow the radios?
The federal government has been trying to stop the bleeding for around ten years. The Ministers of Canadian Heritage parade… Mélanie Joly, Pablo Rodriguez… And now Pascale St-Onge, who finds herself with the plans of her predecessors.
The latter undoubtedly inherits the biggest challenge of her career. It is on his shoulders that enormous pressure will now fall. She will have the choice between maintaining the strategy put forward to force the digital giants to negotiate with the media or a new poker move.
Recently, she said she was open to creating a media fund financed by Google. I like this avenue and this open-mindedness. I believe that in Ottawa (just like in Quebec where Minister Mathieu Lacombe was quick to say on Thursday that we had to review the support system for the news media), we understood that all ideas had to be considered to allow the media to escape from this terrible spiral.